Want to start out right but may have gotten in over my head

jb59

Chirping
8 Years
Aug 3, 2011
12
1
79
I am retired military having moved from the city to Dutch-Country, Pennsylvania. My wife and I started out with five leg-horn hens but lost two (one to a broken leg and the other was eaten by a fox). We used to let them free range until the fox incident. This was all last year. Our initial intent was to simply have egg-producing hens (not for meat). We now have seven more hens (Silkies and Columbian Rocks). We thought when we got them that they were all hens but have since found out two of the silkies and one of the Rocks are not female. I am told that a 'flock' of chickens can have only one Rooster.

We currently have the chickens housed in an old shed and I have since cut a square opening in the shed and attached a small run to enable them to get some fresh air. I am currently trying to decide whether to build them a bigger, better, more efficient A-Frame home on wheels or to purchase one. But we have another dliemma.

Since we will now have a rooster (after we sell the other two), we have decided or are pondering, the possibility of producing baby chicks and possibly using some of the offspring as meat in the future. I'm just not sure the best way to have certain hens incubate the fertilzed eggs while other hens eggs will be utilized for our consumption. I want to build a housing unit to accomodate this but unfortunately I'm far from a capable carpenter so will most likely go the purchase route. Should I get two since one will be producing fertile eggs while the other will not?
 
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A couple things to consider:

1) Some roosters do get along okay together, at least if there is enough space, so for example, a silkie and a rock roo may be fien - only time will tell.
2) If you didn't know what to look for, you wouldn't know a fertilized egg from an unfertilized one, so there's really no reason to separate your layers from your meat birds, unless you're talking about investing in cornish cross meaties??? Who cares whether you're eating fertilized eggs or not??? Most people pay no attention.
3) Space and numbers would really be the only reason you might have to separate - well, unless you end up with a bunch of cockerels from hatching- so maybe you'll want a grow-out coop for the male hatchlings when they start getting itchy and challenging as they become adolescents...
4) You will definitely want to keep a few female silkies if you're thinking of hatching, since they go broody fairly frequently.
5) Dual purpose breeds are generally processed at about 20 weeks of age, meat birds around 10 weeks...
 
You can have multiple roosters in a flock as long as they have enough space like the above poster mentioned. A Silkie is fairly mellow, they don't generally challenge other roosters. If those three have been raised together, I don't think you'll have any problems with the three of them. If you do and they start fighting, you can just sell one or two anyways, problem solved.

As for hatching eggs, if you want good, big meat birds you'll want to use the Rock rooster and your biggest hens for hatching the eggs. Silkies are not good for meat, and mine have never been good broodies either despite their reputation as being great mothers. I would get an incubator. A good Hovabator incubating kit runs around $200, give or take a bit, and that'll give you room to hatch about 40 eggs at a time. You don't need to seperate your layers from the birds you intend on breeding because there isn't a big difference between fertile and infertile eggs unless you incubate them. They taste and look the same.
 

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